Question for those who COOK!

[Jim Bremner]

Would you pay to have a service that once a year sends out Spice packets that you could dump into your spice jars? Let's say once a year that you toss out your stale spices and get fresh spices in 4 oz packets. They would keep record of your spice choices and send out refill packs of fresh ground spices. for 1/3rd of what you would pay for it in a store.

[HHI944]

Is this a business already in existence or a brainstorm?

Either way, certainly sounds like a neat idea....I'd probably order....

[LWJ]

Maybe. Sounds very interesting. I say delete the thread and do some covert research.

[Hugh R]

I grow garlic, sage oregano, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, etc. in pots in pots in my yard. If I lived in NYC, I might be interested.

[Jim Bremner]

Theres more to it and I hope none of you here would rip the idea off.

[aigel]

I wouldn't. It is really tough to predict what you'll need for the year, as the stuff I cook changes - I may do a lot more asian type cooking for a while and use up a lot of ginger and lay low on cajun food, taking it easy on the ground cayenne ...

Amazon already offers auto-refill type shipping plans on food, btw. I.e. if I order my favorite tea there, I can sign up for a plan where they send it to me in my intervals of choice. They also will give me a discount if I sign up for a shipment plan.

Hope this helps!

G

[Jim Bremner]

yes, but your supposed to toss out once a year

[HardDrive]

In a word, no.

[KaptKaos]

When its a special occasion, I buy fresh herbs.

Regular cooking, I use the dried till its gone.

[aigel]

I am not subscribing to "toss out annually". It may lose some of it's flavor but on a lot of my spices that I use infrequently, I'd throw away more than I am using ...

G

[Dottore]

I cook a lot. Spice consumption patterns are totally unpredictable over a year, so an annual renewal service makes little sense to me. I also try to buy fresh spices and herbs in small quantities as often as possible. So an annual top up also makes no sense.

[Jim Bremner]

yup but I could send out FRESH fresher than what you'll get at the Supermarket

[red-beard]

Gourmet spices, herbs, essential oils, potpourri, green tea - bulk and wholesale

You need to review the competition

[cashflyer]

Jim... I think those who really know their cooking will say no. Too much chance of waste and loss of freshness, too hard to predict usage patterns, etc.

But I think there are a lot of people who would probably subscribe.

Think of the millions of dollars that get spent on stupid ads in the back of National Enquirer. A simple classified that says "send a dollar to find out how I got rich" will net plenty of activity. PT Barnum knew what he was talking about.

Cast your net wide enough and you will haul in some fish.

[aigel]

The only thing that would really make sense IMHO is to offer this to the restaurant industry as a weekly "bin fill" service, like fastener and hardware companies offer it to industry. I am not sure if you are aware of this common service - the hardware company comes by once a week and refills your fastener cabinet as a service.

G

[legion]

Interesting concept, but the devil is in the details. Like many here, my cooking varies widely from year to year. I buy the little McCormmick spice jars, and I don't use a full jar of everything every year. About the only things I'd be interested in would be oregano and some decent (but not wildly expensive) darjeeling tea.

[vash]

probably not.

i have salt, whole peppercorns...and the rest is very random.

i would kill for a great spice house in my area. i know a place in SF that grinds fresh, but parking is a PIA.

i visited a Penryns in portland and just about fainted. only place i ever found szechuan peppercorns.

[svandamme]

no i would definitely not use such a service.


Either i will find what i need, exactly how i need it, when i need it (which will not be all in the same place.)
or i'll grow my own...

If i were to be happy with just somebody selecting it for me, i might as well go to teh supermarket and get spices that way, when i need em rather then an assortment sent once a year whether i need it or not.


I really don't see the point.

[GWN7]

I wouldn't use it, but people buy Chia Pets (marketed correctly)...........

[RWebb]

maybe

I am not even sure that fresh herbs or spices are always better than dried...